Skyriding is the new Dragonriding in The War Within — here’s how it works

The War Within is expanding the concept of Dragonriding in World of Warcraft to work with most flying mounts in the game, and letting players toggle between flying styles at any moment. This new iteration of the improved, faster, vigor-based flying introduced in Dragonflight — now called “Skyriding” — will work on most zones in the game as soon as the expansion launches, and almost immediately on Khaz Algar, where the new expansion takes place.

At the moment there are 464 mounts that work with Skyriding — though that number will only increase with time. The ability to toggle between flight styles will also be immediately available in older zones, but will require a bit more work before it becomes possible in Khaz Algar.

Read on to learn everything about how exactly Skyriding will work.

How does Skyriding work in The War Within?

From your mount journal pane, you’ll be able to toggle between dynamic flight (now called “Skyriding”) and old-style flying (called “steady flight”). Druids will also be able to use Skyriding for their Flight Form. The toggle ability has a five-second casting time, and the choice be immediately available on older zones.

The new Skyriding talent tree keeps much of what was previously found on the Dragonriding talent tree. The basics of what you already earned for Dragonriding, such as the vigor increases and the main dynamic flight abilities, are still there, and you won’t need to re-earn anything. The glyphs from the Dragon Isles are no longer required to earn talent points for your Skyriding — those are now given to you by default as you level up your character. However, the glyphs still exist to be collected on the Dragon Isles, purely for Achievement purposes, and there will be new glyphs in Khaz Algar as well.

You can enable or disable “Riding Along,” which allows you to carry a friend on your mount, and you can toggle between the Whirling Surge and Lightning Rush abilities — Lightning Rush is the ability from the Algarian Stormrider, which gives you a speed boost that doesn’t consume vigor like Whirling Surge does, but requires you to ride close to walls in order to accumulate 10 stacks of a buff called Static Charge.

When and where can I use Skyriding?

In older zones, dynamic flight will be available from level 15 — or earlier for Dracthyr characters, who have the Soar racial ability (which is essentially built-in dynamic flight). Characters should immediately be able to toggle between the two flight styles in those level 70-and-below zones.

On the continent of Khaz Algar, where the events of The War Within take place, dynamic flight will be available “early in the Isle of Dorn,” which means it should be almost immediately there, requiring only a small amount of questing. As for old-style steady flight — and the ability to toggle between the two styles — it’ll be unlocked in Khaz Algar in a manner similar to previous Pathfinder achievements — “after leveling through and exploring the new lands thorough,” according to the developers.

Dragonriding was one of the best additions Dragonflight made to the game, so it’s fantastic to see it become an evergreen part of World of Warcraft — and the ability to easily toggle between styles anywhere is an excellent feature as well.

Originally published April 18, 2024; updated June 7, 2024